August, 2020
So this morning on my next day here, I spent all morning this morning on just one trail on Fidalgo Island. To get to the start of the trail, I drove the big white truck to a parking area adjacent to a saltwater beach. The trail wound lazily through beautiful marshlands just a few yards away from the salt water of Puget Sound. When I got to the far end of the trail through those wetlands, I was then just south of the large Anacortes/San Juan Islands ferry terminal. I turned around in order to return to the parking lot, but instead of following the trail back through the marshlands back to the parking lot, I scrambled down onto the sandy, saltwater beach there and walked back on the beach to the parking lot. The entire trek took me almost four hours.
The trail wasn’t really that long, but, you know, I don’t usually walk fast, I usually meander and stop and listen and stop and look and stop and smell and stop and read the signs and stop and feel the breeze on my face … and stop and take photos. And heaven help me if there are humans around because I usually stop and chat with them, especially if they are local folks.
A few dozen of these posts were in handy spots along the trail. They gave the visitor a nice visual and a little text description of a plant or animal or bird that might be in the area.
The marshland that I explored on the trail this morning was the Ship Harbor Interpretive Preserve. This is land that is being protected as an endangered ecosystem. But the Preserve is not just about flora and fauna, no ma’am! There’s human history here too.
Copied from one of the signs along the trail: “The bluffs along the water and the beach under your feet tell stories of millions of years, from mile-thick glaciers pushing tons of rocks to gentle sculpting by wind and water. These waters became home to a rich diversity of life, and the settlements of the first people, Samish, thrived on these shores (on that Samish website, scroll down and the photos will move sideways). Settlers from other cultures came and fishing fleets grew, harvesting the abundance of the sea. Canneries flourished and declined, leaving their mark on the shoreline.”
Osprey. Wouldn’t that be cool to see an Osprey. Ha, with my luck I’ll be seeing more eagles. Oh my, it feels a bit ungracious of me to shrug off the idea of seeing yet another eagle. Eagles are so handsome.
And then … around the next corner … what do I spy?
In the photo below, look at the tallest tree on the left. It has an angled top on it.
I zoomed in with my telephoto lens, just a bit at first.
Yep, it’s a nest … sigh, another nest.
But I couldn’t quite see the Eagle in detail.
There was a path through the underbrush, heading directly towards the tree. I took that path!
Getting closer now, maybe my camera can zoom in enough now to see the Eagle.
Yes! There it is! Oh-oh, but it’s not an Eagle. It is an Osprey!! Whoop!
Click on the photo above to enlarge it. I took lots of photos but this was the only one that shows the Osprey’s head. I suspect there were babes in the nest who were getting fed.
Oh that was simply super, wasn’t it? 🙂
Ok, back to the trail. Much of the trail was a raised wooden walkway that allowed water and vegetation and critters to pass underneath.
One of the sign posts with photos and captions is on the left in the photo above.
In the photo above, the row of cars waiting to get on the ferry means I’m almost to the end of the trail. Just this one more marshy area to enjoy.
And then just ahead, around that next curve in the boardwalk, the end of the trail appeared. This was a lovely walk, with plenty to see. In the next blog post, I’ll share photos with you of my walk back on the beach, back to the parking lot and the big white truck.
I saw on one of those posts about thimbleberries! We had those in Michigan’s upper peninsualia. I think they are in Maine too. Didn’t know they were out your way!
And I didn’t know they grew anywhere but here, Dawn! Ha! What little we know about some things, eh? I love to eat them.
What are those fuzzy brown things? Not the cattails, I know what they are, but what are the other things, the spikey ones? I love your photos!
Shawn, I don’t know. READERS … calling all READERS! Help us. What are these plants? The light brown oval head sort of things with spikes sticking out all over them.
Hi, Shawn. The plant is Teasel.
Jan
Thanks Jan. Wikipedia says that Teasel is a kind of thistle, really cool plant. Thanks.
We had thimbleberries in Minnesota too. Didn’t know they grew anywhere else either. They sure aren’t in Arizona, ha! Thanks Ann, more really pretty pictures, we love ’em.
Thanks Wanda. If you want thimbleberries, you can head home or you can head here. They are obviously more prolific than any of us knew.
Isn’t it great that people realize how important it is to preserve areas? Wildlife is such a treasure, and your blog always captures (in words AND photos) many an interesting outing! And even a pronunciation lesson when we could use one, thanks for that too, btw. 😉
Oh yes, I love it when I find areas called “preserves” or some such like that on a map. They are always a prime destination for a visit. Besides helping preserve the Preserve (I always leave a donation), I find exquisite things to photograph.
Love your nature pictures, history, and general explanations. These are particularly appreciated as we dropped 40 degrees on temperature in the last day.
We sure got cold fast too, Mary. The weather turned a sharp corner recently, and it did that sooner than most years it seems like. Thanks for the nice words. 🙂
I love those little purple flowers. Thanks Ann. 🙂
Aren’t they sweet? 🙂
The Osprey! I love the Osprey. How fun that you thought you were seeing just another boring old eagle. What a treat the Osprey was. We have seen lots of nests but have never seen an Osprey in one of the nests. We must look more closely!
Janey
Ha! yes, “another boring old eagle”. I do seem to have seen a lot of them lately, and in situations where they are looking at me too. But this Osprey was indeed a special treat. Another handsome bird. Keep looking for them Janey.